Chennai-based medical consultation startup Any Time Doctor has raised an undisclosed amount of angel investment from surgical oncologist Ramakant Deshpande, a Padma Shri awardee who is the director of Asian Cancer Institute, Mumbai.

The startup will primarily spend the fresh capital on marketing and to enhance the app’s tech infrastructure, A Vasanthakumar, founder of Any Time Doctor, told TechCircle.

Any Time Doctor is a mobile app that allows doctors to consult with patients via video. Users can instantly connect with doctors without needing an appointment and can get advice delivered through the app.

Owned and operated by GTOS Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the startup was founded by former Mahindra group executive Vasanthakumar in 2017. Users need to create an account on the app, select the medical symptoms on the home screen, pay the doctor's fee and place a video call. After the face-to-face interaction with the doctor, users will get e-advice inside the app and notifications on SMS as well.

MFine, DocsApp, Lybrate and JustDoc (owned by NetMeds) are some venture capital-funded startups in the video consultation space.

MFine, an app that lets users link with doctors through live chat or video under a minute, had raised $4.2 million in a Series A round led by Prime Venture Partners in May this year. Existing investors Stellaris Venture Partners and healthcare entrepreneur Mayur Abhaya Srisrimal also participated in the round, taking the total capital raised by the company to $6 million.

Bengaluru-based medical consultation firm DocsApp raised $7.2 million in a Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, besides Japanese investors TechMatrix Corporation and DeNA networks. DocsApp lets patients interact with specialists on chat or over the phone within 30 minutes.

With the acquisition, NetMeds marked its entry into the diagnostics sector where it plans to offer end-to-end consultancy in healthcare, lifestyle and patient counselling. Before the acquisition, NetMeds offered prescription medicine and over-the-counter products as well as an electronic health records storage app.

Online doctor appointment and pathology platform Lybrate also offers online video consultation services. The company has raised close to $15 million so far from a slew of investors including Tiger Global Management; Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons; and Nexus Venture Partners.